My 2k11 Wishlist vs 2k15 Feature List - jordankobewade7's Blog

jordankobewade7's Blog

My 2k11 Wishlist vs 2k15 Feature List

Posted on September 20, 2014 at 06:52 PM.

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I was recently looking at some of my older blog entries and I couldn't help but notice how relevant they still are. One in particular that caught my eye is my old blog entry highlighting my 2k11 wishlist, and I couldn't help but compare it to what is coming (and what i hope is coming) in 2k15 set to release in under 3 weeks time.

It was a great list then and still is now, and since I feel like my ideas are eerily parallel to those within the 2k dev team (many of my ideas in my blogs were included in the next several releases of 2k), why not elaborate further on what I hope is achieved in the next release (or several releases), of the 2k franchise.

For starters, here is my unfinished 2k11 blog about features I'd hoped would be implemented in the following releases in RED, and my response to them and how they've been implemented up till now in subsequent releases.

Ok,im lets get right into it.I think these are the most important and revolutionary additions to the nba 2k franchise that i feel are necessary to keep a hold on the crown.The comp is creepin.Here we go!

--Bring Isomotion back to the right stick--
Dribbling is the most common thing going on in a basketball game, and its what separates using a bigman from using a guard.I dont feel the current setup does enough justice to the games best dribblers,i dont feel its categorizes this aspect of the game as well as it does with the other things,like needing a minimum rating for dunking.That being said,in no way am i saying to take away the shot stick,nvr that.Just put its in its place.There is no reason for the shot stick to be activated all the time as there are only certain situations where it is needed.So,rather than having it all the time,have the shot stick be operated using a clutch.Let the dribbling be on the right stick normally,and the shot stick be activated when needed,or in the right situation by pulling the left trigger,which was used as the isomotion clutch in 2k10.This would bring full control back to the user as far as dribbling the way we want without changing body orientation,or to simply make jab steps.The shot stick should have all the control that it normally has,except it is only activated by pulling and holding the left trigger as a clutch.This would be amazing for me as it would erase allow full user control with the dribbling and take away the guess work with the current system,thus simplifying the system for the user.The animations and the system for the dribbling moves is fine,its just how they are translated to the court via the controls.Whats the point of all the custom dribbles when theres no easy way to consistantly pull them off?Lastly,it makes the game alot easier to pick up and play.It just makes sense.

This is the crazy part to me, because if you look at the date that this blog was written, you can see that this idea came out BEFORE this was ever thought to be implemented in 2k, or at least publicly. So when this came out and it was implemented in the game EXACTLY as described in my blog, I seriously got chills. I can't say for sure they took me up on my advice, but it feels good nonetheless that there was a CHANCE that they read my blog, and then considered it, agreed with my sentiments, then finally implemented it into the game. CRAZY!

--A Clutch for Passing Too--
After i thought of the clutch system for dribbling,i thought its the same thing for passing...why not add that in and make it so u can get a real feel that u have control over passes,both how fancy they are,and who theyre going to.This is another nice touch that would be greatly welcomed,and feels great in the other game.This is about creating the best game possible,not copying one thing or another,and this is a two-way street so why not?

Same thing here with the passing stick (CRAZY!); great way to play the game if implemented correctly and accurately. I want to be able to make my intended pass on time every time. I really hope this works well in 2k15 as it has yet to be properly implemented thus far in the series.

--Summer League in Association--
This shouldn't be too much to add in,since its already in my player mode.I want to have my offseason be more lively,and to have more to do.What better way than to have the official Las Vegas Summer League in the game to use during the offseason?Add in the Thomas & Mack Center and we're all set for this. It'd be another great addition.

The jury is still out on this one. I noticed that I put "this should be easy to implement" in my original blog, and I want to withdrawal that statement right now. I would love to have both the Orlando AND Las Vegas Summer League Showcases implemented into the game. This would be a great great GREAT addition to the game and I cannot stress this enough. To be able to get a feel for your rookies in competitive play vs other rookies in the same position across the league is huge. Its hard to get a feel for their talents even in the preseason, and its just super authentic to have this in the game for MYLEAGUE and MYGM. I love the drills that let you feel what its like to control a player before you draft him, and I feel like another step in the process is to use them like they are the stars of your team in summer league play. GREAT GREAT GREAT!

--More Unlockables/Upgrades within Association--
It would be nice to unlock a bigger,nicer practice facility,and maybe use our offseason points to purchase workout machines or coaches that give us more drills or increase the effectiveness of the ones currently available.This would increase the life of the association mode and be one step closer to what is the devs overall goal for an association mode:to make the user want,and feel the need to play the full 25yrs available to us.

This feature has been implemented, but honestly not in the way I envisioned here. I was thinking along the lines of a Mark Cuban type scenario in that he provides exceptional things for his team that contribute to their success, but in no way are these things cheating the system or creating an unfair advantage. Things like a team plane, or larger more 'state of the art' practice facilities. Maybe an upgraded well renowned training staff like the Suns have been said to have.

When I came up with these ideas I was thinking of more visible additions and not just menu style upgrades. I was thinking of an actual bigger practice facility and maybe an old school nba live cutscene showing my players boarding the newly purchased team plane. I want to see my purchases in the flesh to make them feel tangible and validate their existence beyond a simple menu confirmation of 'already purchased'.

--Team Relocation/Logo Editing in Association--
Im thinking along the lines of madden here.It would be nice to bring any team to any city and change their logo to either a new one that we can create(which i will touch on later)or simply switching back to our old logos/jerseys/arenas.Although they may keep the same team name and abbreviation,we may want to revamp the logos and arenas every few yrs to freshen things up.An example i will give is to say im using the Lakers,and kobe retires,i want to usher in a new era and a fresh start,teams often use this moment to bring our new logos/jerseys.This would be sweet.As i said,my desire isnt to change the team entirely, just simply edit the logo and/or the jersey.

--Detailed Team Creation/Editing Tools--
Touched on this in the previous category,but here im thinking ncaa football 10.They really went all out with the creation system,and i think this would be amazing if we could go to this detail or even more(think build on their idea)in a basketball game.
This detailed create a team feature can also be used for editing our logos and jerseys in our franchise mode.I wouldnt even care if we couldnt change the team colors,I wouldnt want to have no resemblance to the actual team i am,i want the grizzlies to still be the grizzlies,just simply a revamped version.If i want to create my team and make my own colors then we should have the option to do it this way.Once again,an amazing idea imo that would seriously add a few yrs onto my association play time.

To be completely honest here, these ideas came from playing madden 04 and around that time where they added the ability for you to relocate your team, even change the team entirely with new logos, jerseys, a custom stadium and so forth. Now, I'm not calling for anything this radical or off the wall, just something in-between of sorts. Relocating just doesn't seem likely or realistic, so for now we should backburner that idea (same with expansion for the moment).

As for customization of jerseys or courts, let us go crazy with customization of things that don't have any affect on the key points of the NBA. Maybe we can't create our own team jerseys, courts, or logos, but things like practice jerseys/courts, summer league jerseys, and pregame warmup suits would be cool to add our personal touch to if we wanted to. Or maybe we can customize some fan items when we do a fan night promo or for a playoff game, we can create custom shirts fans can be seen wearing in the crowd during a promo/playoff game. These little touches give us a hand in the game that makes us feel apart of it, and not just a witness to what plays out as we play the game.

--Halftime/End of Game/Weekly Show--
This would be great to have.I love the Gatorade G moments and the sprite slam cam and all that stuff.They have the right ideas and ingame advertising to give the game a lively feel,but it would all come together with a package of shows,with animated analysts.These should be different from those who call the game, and they should discuss other games around the league and the top billing on the schedule for the week.

--Change the Announcers--
The best and most exciting annoucers out there are Mike Breen, Mark Jackson,and Jeff Van Gundy by far.They are hilarious and yet knowledgable,and they can get loud and it wont sound fake or uncharacteristic of them,it will flow along with the game and sound more natural.Mike Breen's "Bang!" sounds crazy,it makes u wanna jump out of your seat when u hear it,or Mark Jackson's "Mama there goes that man"...or even the stupid remarks Jeff Van Gundy makes constantly that have you on the floor.These three just have a great chemistry together and they hit all the bases when it comes to commentating an NBA game.Plus,having 3 people calling the game just makes it feel more fresh because its not the same 2 people talking,and it will take that much longer to hear all the commentating lines, lol. The only thing that sucks about it is that all the work they've done is gone,but they can either use it elsewhere,or scrap it altogether,either way,its worth it imo,and i know im not alone.

Now this is great, I think the commentary has been kept fresh relatively well over the years, but I do admit that up until this year with 2k15 having Shaq and Ernie (we still arent sure of the extent of their involvment with the game) is great for the relativity of the game. One of the reasons I thought it was important to have Jeff Van Gundy, Mark Jackson, and Mike Breen be the commentators in the game was because of how we relate to them in the basketball world.

Its important for authenticity to give fans something they can relate to when comparing how we enjoy the NBA on tv vs our console/pc. Clark Kellogg and Steve Kerr are great, but not common commentators we are used to seeing doing NBA broadcasts together. Its important to implement a team that works together in real life into the game because of their chemistry and simple relativity for the casual player and even the hardcore player from what they see on real NBA broadcasts to whats in the game.

Having Shaq and Ernie in the game is a gamechanger, and I'm excited to see what else they've done with the presentation and game commentators.

Wanting the halftime/weekly shows for me stems from my experience with the college hoops franchise (RIP) which I dearly miss and hope gets brought back btw.

--More Animations!--
After this year getting 9,000 animations,i feel spoiled and i dont ever wana go back to the days of nowhere near that many in one dev cycle.I want to see more player specific and non player specific celebrations after shots,fist pumps,finger weapon holstering,blowing on the finger tips when shooting a high percentage.I recall being able to jump over the front row and/or the scorers table when chasing down a loose ball,bring that back.Besides these things,give us more dunks,put backs,layups,alley-oop possibilities,more dunked on scenarios(these are truly amazing),more dribbling,shooting,blocking,and stealing animations.These make the game so authentic just by adding in the things we see when we watch NBA games,and of course, SportsCenter :-)Keep em coming plzzzzzzzzzz.

--Player Interaction with Environment--
I would love to see my players run over to my coach during free throws to get an extra second for gameplanning.Of course this would only be certain players,probably either my star player or my point guard,but it'd be a great touch.Players going at it during the game and chit-chatting/gesturing would be a great touch also.Nothing like watching two premier players go at it,whether its two great offensive players torching each other,or great offense vs. great defense,either way,this would definetly put me pretty much in my tv,just the same way i am when im watching a great battle in real life.This year the fan models look great,the next step in my mind would be a players interaction with these fans,like hi-fiving after a big play at home,or talking/gesturing while walking down court at an away game.Spike Lee was always in Reggie Miller's ear when he was at MSG,itd be nice to see the players acknowledge a huge part of the game-the fans.This wasnt possible previously because it wouldnt have looked right to have the great looking player models interact with the barely 3-d fans of previous years,but now that the bar has been raised,this should be in the game in some form,even if it is basic for now.

Major improvements to animation quantity and quality has been made over the years in 2k. The only thing from this list that I've yet to see in game is the interaction directly with fans.

I have to admit that the inspiration for this idea came from the ea march madness series around 2008 or so, that had momentum and crowd interactions that were amazing. I don't recall them being direct interactions with the crowd, so I added that part in translation to my wishlist, but it'd be great to have this in the game and would add that level of authenticity and tangibility to the game.

The biggest thing I would like to note here is that when I mentioned the crowd models in comparison to the player models being totally possible I was talking about how this would be possible with the graphical power of the ps3/x3 vs the xbox/ps2 and now we have even more power at the devs disposal to implement this feature and features like it into the game so this is a great opportunity for the 2k series going forward to implement.

Ok,thats all i got for now,ill be adding as i play the current game more,and get a better grasp as to what it can do better,but im glad im starting now,because the earlier we can compile this stuff,the easier and the better chance it has of making it into the game.Give me your ideas,or your extensions of mine.thx

Looking back at this wishlist and my others I am happy to see that many of these features have made their way into the 2k series in some form or another which makes me really happy. With more insight than ever before into how hard the devs work on games, it is amazing to see them follow their passion (which i share) for improvement in all areas, even the areas that they excel.

From now on I'm gonna keep putting my ideas into blogs just getting them out of my mind and into the wild, because who knows, they may end up in the 2k series in some form or another. (!!!)